Great little cabin with an awesome floor plan that really adds a lot of floor space to this relatively small footprint.
In the beginning it was an idea to use some really nice Lodgepole Pine that I had leftover from a previous project.
After some deliberation , Merel and I came up with this floor plan and built it and advertised it for sale in Kijiji and and Craigslist.
There were many folks interested in this plan and we offered it a a really great price and after many dealings back and forth with many individuals from all over Canada and and USA, the folks who were actually the first to respond to our offering were the ones to follow through.
Little did we know the adventure that awaited us.
It never ceases to amaze me how our lives change course and suddenly we are on a different path.
It seems that the location was way up in Cadomin, a now almost deserted little mining town.
It is located just southeast of Hinton Alberta high in the Rocky Mountains in a narrow valley .
Upon arriving and almost having completed the set up of the log package a local fellow and the town handyman JC came by to see the goings on and after watching us work for a bit , came over and introduced himself to us.
"Nice logs" he says to us.
Sure hope they can withstand the winds here! he exclaimed
I confidently re assured him that they would in fact stand up to a hurricane if needed and showed him through bolting system that we use to hold the logs together.
He then goes on to say, Its the roof I'd be worried about here.
I also said no worries , we'll be hurricane clipping the rafters and plywood according to the code that is required in Hinton, Just 30 miles back down the road
Well, he said thats good cause the winds have reached over 230 mph here in the past.
Meri and I looked at each other in somewhat disbelief,
After much more research of the area , we were soon to learn that little town of Cadomin Alberta has had its times with horrific wind forces .
Many of the old cabins are cabled down to concrete and heavily timber braced to be able withstand these freak winds that roar down the mountain and hit the bottom of the narrow valley at which point are now squeezed through this point where the town of Cadomin had been built.
Many a home has literally been ripped off its foundation and tumbled down the valley for more than a mile and of course resembling not more than a pile of twisted and splintered wood
Well, that meant also cross bracing the frame gable ends and bolting the rafters with 3/4" threaded rod to the log walls which were bolted all the way down the subfloor which was bolted to the mushroom style concrete footings.
We felt that we had done just about all one could do to steady this log cabin against the phenomenal forces of nature.
We spent two months there just the two of us , building this cabin and after hearing so much about the freak forces of nature and to beware of Grizzlies and such, had the most enjoyable stay in the Wilds of the Rockies
in our camper .
We also were really lucky to meet our neighbours who really welcomed us to their little paradise in the mountains and especially our good friend and closest neighbor "Walter" .
He would routinely offer us coffee and cake and at night would invite us to the fire to sing and play guitar with the good people of Cadomin
We will be back even if only to visit .
Let the Winds Blow!!!